Switzerland's Novartis will slash 2.5 per cent of its global workforce as it aims for annual savings of $1.6 billion in 2010.
Novartis said it would take a charge of $450 million in the fourth quarter for the measures, which aim to combat price pressures on drugs, higher research costs, tighter regulations and more generic competition.
The drug maker will cut 2,500 jobs from its global total of 100,000.
Novartis employs more than 600 people in its manufacturing facility in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork. A spokesperson for Novartis Ireland said the company was "currently considering" the implications for Novartis in the UK and Ireland.
Its shares were down 0.6 per cent at 63.70 Swiss francs in early trade, slightly outperforming a weaker European drugs sector, which was off 1 per cent.
A lack of significant new drugs, declining sales of lucrative flagship franchises and competition have set off a wave of restructuring in the industry, including the world's two biggest drug makers, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.
Novartis's latest cuts come just two months after it revamped its US drugs business, cutting 1,260 jobs to help generate annual savings of $230 million.